July 30 2017 – Sheila and Sabriya are joined by Hon. Chris Rabb, State Representative at Pennsylvania General Assembly. Rep. Rabb discusses why it is important to get involved in local politics, how to get involved in local politics, and he addresses the need for men in political positions to address gender, sexual, and race issues when creating policies.

July 16 2017 – Attorney Anika Ingram of the Ingram Firm (www.ingfirm.com) joins the ladies to discuss how current immigration laws are altering the every day lives of people, what people can do to feel safe, and she shares her own experiences as a Hijab-wearing Muslim woman.

Did you know Undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than their documented counterparts? Did you know that there is NOT a huge influx of Mexicans trying to come into the United States? Or that Obama deported 3 Million people during his presidency? Dr. Tanya Golash-Boza, an expert on Immigration Policy, has a very informative discussion with Sheila and Sabriya on historical and present day immigration policies, injustices as a result of these policies, and her new project that explores mass incarcerations. Listen and Share this podcast and be sure to follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/blackwomentalkpolitics

June 25 2017: Sheila and Sabriya are back discussing this week’s hot topics in politics like only they do! Make sure you like and follow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/blackwomentalkpolitics

And also follow us on Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/user-192936908/black-women-talk-politics-ep-5

How Will Healthcare Cuts Affect Communities of Color? Sheila and Sabriya talk with Alison Walker (www.fit2balance.com) about the how devastating the cuts can be. They also discuss the Comey Hearing, Jared Kushner, Civil Rights Roll Back, and more on Black Women Talk Politics Ep. 4

Be sure to check us out on Facebook www.facebook.com/blackwomentalkpolitics

Sunday May 28 2017 – Special Guest: Leslie Jones (www.thehundred-seven.org)- This week Sheila and Sabriya have a packed show as they discuss the Manchester Bombing, White Supremacists being labeled Terrorist(the murder of Richard Collins and Oregon Train Stabbing), the continuing saga of the Russia investigation, the President’s follies on his first foreign visit, the CBO score for the Trump/Ryan Health Care, and North Carolina redistricting. Special Guest Leslie Jones discusses Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Presidents visiting the President, critical issues facing HBCUs, and the importance of the existence of HBCUs. Don’t forget to visit, Like, and Subscribe to our page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/blackwomentalkpolitics)

Sheila and Sabriya recap James Comey, Jeff Sessions, The K – 12 Budget Cuts and the Commission on Voter Integrity. Special Guest Michelle Hudgins discusses the importance of understanding the language (code words) used by politicians. In the “Word on the Street” segment Natasha Wilkins discusses what she is hearing from people as she travels across the United States. Visit us at www.facebook.com/blackwomentalkpolitics/ and be sure to follow and like our page.

Black Women Talk Politics (Ep 1) featuring Sheila Clark and Sabriya Willams. This weeks special guest is Dr. Jaime Michel who joins the ladies to talk about Juvenile Justice issues and how the Trump Administration policies could have an effect on the progress that has been made in recent years. Also this week the ladies review the topics of the past week including Let Girls Learn, Jordan Edwards, Alton Sterling, the American Health Care Act, and Trumps first 100 Days.

This is Episode ZERO of Black Women Talk Politics. Basically, it’s just the test run of the podcast. Sheila and Sabriya will be bringing you much more information on the show in the future, this is just them taking the show out for a test drive.

Simple Ways to Market Your Book That Work For Successful Self-Publishers

Okay, so I read somewhere that about 500,000 books are published each year. That is a half a million books! And that are books that are published by publishing houses!! Throw in all of the of the self-published works and I certainly would be surprised if that number creeps upwards of 700,000! That’s a whole lot of competition!

So what do us little old self-publishers need to do to be heard above the noise? Oh, you already know the words to this song, so sing it with me…Market, Market, MARKET!

Before I go into some basic ways to get publicity, let me tell you what NOT to do. Forget about getting in national magazines or television shows! It’s okay to work towards that goal, but don’t expect that you will go from unknown to celebrity author in three months. If you do all of the little things right, the big things will fall right into place. Do NOT skip the little things!

Friends and Family

Okay, with that said the most obvious place to start with your publicity is with those closest to you – friends, family, and colleagues. Send them an email letting them know you’re working on a self-publishing a book. Then when you are ready to release it, give them (at least some of them) a free copy of the book. Be direct with what you want from them. Ask them to review your book on Amazon.com. Ask them to tell their network of friends, family, and colleagues. Heck, make it easy for them and give them an email that they can send to their network.

Get Social

Next you want to venture outside of your backyard, but still in your neighborhood, your social network. If (and by “if” I mean “you better!”) you have Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube accounts, make sure you publicize using those avenues. The simplest method is to post on your status, tweet, and create a video, all of which will be broadcast to your friends and followers. Here’s the thing, you will have to be consistent with publicizing your new book, BUT you don’t want to turn into a spammer or a used car salesman. The basic rule is 1 of every 4-5 posts should be about your book. Go ahead and post that funny meme, the inspirational quote, and the ghetto video from World Star Hip Hop, THEN post something about your new book. And once again, direct folks to your website or wherever your book is available for sale.

There are more advanced methods to utilizing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, etc., but those are topics for other posts, just know that you should (better) be on social media publicizing.

Offline Networks

Don’t forget to publicize at your offline social networks. Are you part of a church, mosque, or synagogue? How about an alumni association? What about a rotary club, or a chamber of commerce? Whatever social or professional organization you belong to be sure to let the other members know. You may need to create a flier to hang in and around the meeting place, or to pass out to members. Or you may even want to create business cards specifically for your book to give out.

Your Website

Meanwhile, back in the cyber world, I hope (know!) you went ahead and create a website (or blog) about either your book, or yourself. This should be the primary place where you are telling people to visit for information about your book. It is okay to send folks straight to amazon.com or wherever your book is being sold, BUT you really (REALLY!) should be directing people to YOUR website where YOU can engage your audience and hopefully you will capture their email addresses, so you can stay in contact with them in case you write another book or two or three.

Newspapers

One final (at least for this post) source of publicity can be reporters and your local newspapers. As I stated in the beginning, don’t expect to hit the big times and have your book listed in the New York Times, but you it is very possible that your local newspaper may do an article on you. Newspapers are always looking for content, and if you can provide them with an interesting (and I stress “interesting”) story, this may be the start of something big for you. Research your local newspaper (if you live in a big city, find the smaller papers, most likely a weekly paper or a niche paper, NOT the LA Times, Miami Herald, or New York Post), find out which reporter(s) do literary articles and send her/him a copy of your book with a letter explaining who you are. You never know.

Also, in the same realm, try using sites like www.helpareporter.com and www.reporterconnection.com. These are sites where reporters frequent, and YOU may be the subject of their next article or television story.

This is really only the tip of the iceberg, but if you start with these things, you will be well on your way to making all of your hard work worth the effort.